March 14, 2007
Notre Dame, Ind. –
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• The Game: #6/#8 Notre Dame (4-1/0-0) vs. #18/#18 Yale (4-1/0-0)• Date/Time/Site: Wed., March 14, 2007 • 7:00 p.m. • Village Park Fields • Wellington, Fla.
• The Game: #6/#8 Notre Dame (4-1/0-0) vs. #11/#12 Syracuse (3-3/0-1)• Date/Time/Site: Sunday., March 18, 2007 • 1:00 p.m. • Carrier Dome • Syracuse, N.Y.
IRISH TRAVEL TO FLORIDA FOR CSTV’s SPRING FLING: For the second year in a row, the Notre Dame women’s lacrosse team has spent spring break in sunny Florida, participating in CSTV’s Spring Fling. This year’s opponent is the Yale Bulldogs who bring a 4-1 mark into the game and are ranked 18th in the nation. Notre Dame is also 4-1 on the season and will play its fifth ranked team in the first six games when the Irish face the Bulldogs. They are coming off an 18-8 win last Saturday afternoon at Canisius. Yale has won two in a row, beating New Hampshire (14-9) and Boston College (16-10) after the Bulldogs lone loss, 13-9 defeat at James Madison on March 3. Notre Dame and Yale have met five times in the past with the Bulldogs holding a 3-2 edge. The last time the two teams played was on March 18, 2003 at Orlando, Fla., with Yale taking a 7-6 decision. The Irish are now ranked sixth in the IWLCA coaches’ poll and eighth by Inside Lacrosse Magazine. Following the Yale game, Notre Dame returns to Western New York for the third straight weekend when the Irish face Syracuse on Sunday, March 18 at the Carrier Dome. That game has a 1:00 p.m. starting time.
IRISH OPEN BIG EAST SCHEDULE AGAINST SYRACUSE: Syracuse will be the opponent that Notre Dame opens the 2007 BIG EAST schedule against on Sunday, March 18 at the Carrier Dome. This year’s game is the 10th meeting between the two programs with the Orange holding a 6-3 advantage in the first nine contests. At Syracuse, the Irish haven’t had much luck, going 0-4. Last season, the two teams met at Notre Dame with Meghan Murphy’s (Sr., Centennial, Colo.) goal with 2.3 seconds left being the difference for in and 11-10 Irish win. The Orange evened their record at 3-3 overall with an 18-10 win at home against Towson on Wednesday afternoon. Syracuse is 0-1 in the BIG EAST after dropping a 9-8 decision to Georgetown in sudden-death overtime on Saturday. Following the visit to Syracuse, Notre Dame returns home for the first time since March 1 when the Irish play host to Ohio State on Wednesday, March 21 at Moose Krause Stadium in a 4:00 p.m. game.
HEAD COACH Tracy Coyne: Tracy Coyne is in her 11th season at Notre Dame and 20th year in collegiate lacrosse. Coyne brings a 205-91 (.693) career record into the week against Yale and Syracuse and is 91-65 (.593) in this, her 11th season at Notre Dame. The 1983 graduate of Ohio University recorded her 200th career win last season in the first round of the NCAA tournament with a 16-8 victory against Cornell. She has guided Notre Dame to three NCAA tournament appearances (2002, 2004, 2006), including last year’s first-ever trip to the NCAA finals. In her first 19 years of coaching, Coyne was 23-5 in two seasons at Denison (1988-89), 91-21 in seven years at Roanoke (1990-96) and 87-64 in 10 seasons at Notre Dame. The Pittsburgh, Pa., native led Denison (1988) and Roanoke (1990, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1996) to the NCAA Division III tournament during stops at those schools. Coyne also has coached on the international level as the head coach for the Canadian women’s lacrosse national team from 1999-2005. In June of 2005, she led Team Canada to a fourth-place finish at the 2005 World Cup, her second fourth-place finish (2001) as Canada’s field boss. Coyne is 2-3 all-time against Yale and 3-6 against Syracuse.
CANISIUS RECAP: The Notre Dame women’s lacrosse team won its second game in a row on March 10 with an 18-8 win at Canisius. After leading just 8-6 at halftime, the Irish broke the game open with nine consecutive goals over a 19-minute span in the second half. Jillian Byers (So., Northport, N.Y.) paced the Irish attack with six goals and two assists for eight points. Caitlin McKinney (Jr., Lafayette Hill, Pa.) added three goals and three assists while Meghan Murphy had a four-point game with a goal and three assists. Freshman Gina Scioscia (Summit, N.J.) turned in the first two-goal and three-point game of her career and sophomore Kelly Gaudreau (Annapolis, Md.) scored the first two goals of her career. Jane Stoeckert (So., Mendham, N.J.), Lena Zentgraf (Sr., Charlottesville, Va.), Kaki Orr (Sr., Darien, Conn.) and Heather Ferguson (So., Newtown Square, Pa.) each added single goals in the win. Sophomore goalkeeper Erin Goodman (Cortlandt Park, N.Y.) made nine saves in goal.
SCHEDULE CHANGE: Notre Dame will face Duquesne on Sunday, April 1 in a 1:00 p.m. game at Moose Krause Stadium. This contest replaces the Ohio University game that was cancelled due to the school ending the program and the players deciding not to play. Duquesne and Ohio were to play on April 1.
MOVER AND SHAKER: The ink wasn’t even dry on the 2007 Notre Dame women’s lacrosse media guide and already sophomore Jillian Byers has broken a record. With 21 goals and four assists through the first five games, Byers has become the quickest player in Irish history to reach 100 points in her career. In 24 career games, Byers now has 75 goals and 28 assists for 103 points. She breaks the record set last season by Caitlin McKinney who scored 100 points in her first 33 games.
GOOD FOR GAUDREAU: After seeing action in just two games as a freshman, sophomore attacker Kelly Gaudreau wasted little time getting on the scoreboard in her first action of 2007. She scored twice in the second half for her first goal and first two-goal game of her career in the same contest.
IRISH STREAKS: Six Notre Dame players bring point streaks into the game with Yale. They are:
Caitlin McKinney - 27-game streak (66-30-96)Jillian Byers - 5 games (21-4-25)Lena Zentgraf - 5 games (7-6-13)Meghan Murphy - 3 games (2-4-6)Gina Scioscia - 3 games (3-3-6)Jane Stoeckert - 3 games (3-2-5)
MAKING THE STOPS: Sophomore goaltender Erin Goodman has put together back-to-back strong performances in goal for Notre Dame. Versus Cornell, she gave up nine goals while making 14 saves and against Canisius she had nine saves while giving up eight goals. That’s an 8.50 goals-against average over the last two contests and a .575 save percentage (23 saves on 40 shots). For the season, Goodman is 4-1 with a 10.49 goals-against average and a .450 save percentage.
TEWAARATON WATCH LIST: Sophomore Jillian Byers and junior Caitlin McKinney have been named to the 2007 Tewaaraton “Watch List.” They are among 34 Division I players, selected by a panel of coaches from around the country, eligible for women’s collegiate lacrosse’s top player award. The current duo join Crysti Foote `06, Meredith Simon `04 and Danielle Shearer `03 as Irish players previously named to the “Watch List.” Shearer was the fist player named to the list, Simon was the first selected as a nominee for the award and Foote was the first to be named a finalist.
CLUTCH PERFORMER: Junior Caitlin McKinney had her third game of the season with six or more points when she had three goals and three assists against Canisius (March 10). On the season, she is second in scoring with 16 goals and seven assists for 23 points. Of her 16 goals, three have been game winners, giving her 75% of the team’s winning goals in five games. Despite being held to two goals in the win over James Madison on Feb. 18, both came at crucial times in the game. Trailing 7-6 with time running out in regulation, McKinney scored with 19 seconds left to tie the game at 7-7 and send the game to overtime. Her second goal came in the second overtime. With Notre Dame trailing 9-8, McKinney tied the game with nine seconds left to make it 9-9 and send the game to sudden death.
FRESHMAN FIRSTS: Notre Dame freshman Gina Scioscia recorded the first goal, first assist and first multiple-point game of her career in the 18-10 loss to Northwestern. She followed up with an assist in the 13-9 win over Cornell and had two goals and an assist against Canisius. Scioscia has three goals and three assists in the first five games of her Irish career.
OVERTIME NUMBERS: The Irish seem to play their share of overtime and one-goal games. The first two games this season went to extra time. On Feb. 18 at James Madison, the team’s played 68:44 before Jillian Byers scored in sudden victory of the Irish. On Feb. 24, Notre Dame and Stanford played overtime for the second year in a row. This time, Caitlin McKinney scored with seven seconds left for the win. In 2006, the Irish were 1-1 in two sudden-victory games, losing at Georgetown (11-10) after winning a 12-11 game at Stanford. Notre Dame has now played 13 overtime games in their 11 seasons and are 6-7 in thos games. Over the last two seasons, the Irish are 6-2 in one goal games and 13-16 in the program’s history.
LEAN ON LENA: Senior midfielder Lena Zentgraf equalled a career high with three goals in the 13-9 win at Cornell on March 4. In five games this season, she ranks third on the team in scoring with seven goals and six assists for 13 points. Her previous career best came in 2005 when she had 11 goals and eight assist for 19 points. She is second on the team with 12 draw controls and second with 10 ground balls and leads the team with eight caused turnovers.
NICE START: Sophomore Jillian Byers wasted little time getting her second season at Notre Dame off to a strong start in the win at James Madison. The talented attack player equaled her career high, netting six goals in the 10-9 sudden-death overtime win. After getting just one goal in the first half, the Northport, N.Y., native scored three goals in the second half, added a fifth in the second overtime and then got the game winner with 16 seconds left in the third overtime. She all ready has four games with four or more points and she leads the team in scoring with 21 goals and four assists for 25 points.
HOME RECORD: Notre Dame saw its 10-game home-winning streak snapped on March 1 when Northwestern handed the Irish an 18-10 loss at the Loftus Center. The streak included a 9-0 mark in 2006, the best home record the Irish have ever had.
CONTROLLING THE DRAW: The Irish tied a school record by winning 20 draws in the 13-9 win at Cornell on March 4. The 20 draws did set a school mark for draw controls in an away game. The previous mark of 20 was set versus Virginia Tech on March 26, 2004. The previous road mark was 19 and was done three times. Kaki Orr and Lena Zentgraf each had five in the game while Jillian Byers had four to lead the team.
TRADING CARDS: In Notre Dame’s game with Stanford, the two teams combined for 10 yellow cards, one green card and one red card. Notre Dame was called for seven yellow cards while Stanford had three yellows, one red and had a green card for delay of game assessed. The two teams were called for 40 fouls, Notre Dame 17 and Stanford 23.
BIG EAST SCHOLARSHIP: Senior Meghan Murphy along with Irish swimmer Ted Brown, has been selected as one of Notre Dame’s two BIG EAST post-graduate scholarship winners. The $2,000 scholarship goes toward post-graduate studies. Murphy has already been accepted to medical school. She was the women’s lacrosse team’s 2006 Rockne Scholar-Athlete and was also selected to the 2006 IWLCA Academic honor roll with a 3.74 grade-point average in her double major in anthropology and pre-professional studies. She was a third team ESPN The Magazine/CoSida Academic All-American on the spring at-large team in 2006. Murphy was also selected as one of Notre Dame’s Christopher Zorich Award winners for her involvement in community service work in the Notre Dame community and her home town of Denver, Colo.
PRESEASON ALL-AMERICANS: Three members of the 2007 Notre Dame women’s lacrosse team have been selected to the Inside Lacrosse Magazine preseason All-American team. Attack standouts Jillian Byers and Caitlin McKinney have been selected to the preseason second team while defender Meaghan Fitzpatrick (Sr., Farmingdale, N.Y.) was a third team selection. Byers and McKinney were both selected as third team All-Americans at the end of the 2006 season by Inside Lacrosse.
PRESEASON HONORS: Three members of the Notre Dame women’s lacrosse team have been selected to the preseason all-BIG EAST team. Senior defender Meaghan Fitzpatrick, junior midfielder/attack Caitlin McKinney and sophomore attack Jillian Byers were named to the 2007 team with McKinney and Byers being unanimous selections. Fitzpatrick, a 2006 second team all-BIG EAST selection, is a three-year starter on defense who started all 19 games last season, grabbing 39 ground balls while causing 20 turnovers. McKinney was a first team all-BIG EAST selection last year and a third team IWLCA All-American after scoring 42 goals with 22 assists for 64 points. Byers also was a first team all-BIG EAST choice and a second team IWLCA All-American while scoring 54 goals and 24 assists for 78 points, the second-best single-season totals and freshman records at Notre Dame. OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Sophomore Jillian Byers was named the BIG EAST offensive player of the week for the week ending March 4 as she had six goals and two assists for eight points. Byers had three goals and an assist in a loss to Northwestern and followed that with three goals and an assist in the win at Cornell. She joins Caitlin McKinney who received BIG EAST honors the previous week.
DRAWING IT UP: Senior midfielder Kaki Orr (Darien, Conn.) set a Notre Dame single-game record with nine draw controls in the win over Vanderbilt on May 7 of 2006. She was second on the team with 41 draw controls in 2006, the second-best single-season total at Notre Dame. In five games this season, she leads the team with 19 draw controls, almost four per games and for her career now has 78.
QUICKEST TO 100: Junior speedster Caitlin McKinney saw her record for reaching 100 points the fastest, last just five games this season as she was passed by Jillian Byers on March 10 against Canisius. She scored her 100th point (67g-33a) in the 33rd game of her career. In 39 career games, McKinney has 86 goals and 41 assists for 125 career points. After two seasons, she already ranks in the top 10 in several offensive categories. McKinney is fifth in goals (86), sixth in assists (41) and sixth in points (125).
TURNAROUND SEASON: Notre Dame’s dramatic turnaround from 2005 (3-12) to 2006 (15-4), a +10 differential, is the largest turnaround in NCAA women’s lacrosse history, according to the NCAA record book. The previous biggest changes were seven-game turnarounds by American University (0-14 in 1996 to 8-8 in 1997) and Holy Cross (4-12 in 2000 to 13-7 in 2001). Notre Dame also turned the tables in BIG EAST play, going 4-1 last season and finishing second after going 1-4 in 2005 and finishing in fifth place.